She Has Been Here Three Years

It is so hard to believe how far Joy has come in the last 3 years.  Some days it seems like she has always been with us.  In a sense, she has, considering she's been with us more than she's been without us.  She came to us, sickly and with many orphanage behaviors.  She was not happy.

Her rocking, moaning, and head-banging that first night with us scared the life out of me.  I felt so much pity and love and anger over what I saw.  Why wasn't she loved more?  Why was she left in her crib for so long?  Why was she never fed solid food?

Over the next few months, Joy learned her crib was a safe place to be..a place of rest.  She slowly stopped her rocking and head banging.  With the right nutrition and care, her hair that felt like straw grew into a silky crown on her head.  Her rough skin smoothed with the continual massaging of lotions.  Her cheeks grew rosy with love and laughter.

Joy experienced walking in the rain and loved every minute of it.  

Joy experienced sisterly love.  She finally had a playmate, someone to learn from.

She experienced the love of a family and was happy...very happy.

She learned to trust her family even when it meant something very difficult.  She is a trooper and has overcome much.  She amazed her doctors by removing not 1, but 5 casts in 2 weeks!

By her 6-month post placement report, she fell into her rightful place as the "baby of the family".  She loved being loved.

Joy is sweet with a strong personality.  She will either love you or snub you.

Joy is known for her temper.  Things like this can easily set her off, and it will take quite a while to get her back to her "normal".  She's pushed me to the edge and back quite often.  Four days a week I wake up to her screams of anger and frustration over her blankets.  She is a firecracker, for sure.

Joy is beautiful.  At first we thought she looked like a boy.  We were we wrong!  She has the most beautiful long eyelashes and sweet cheeks.

Joy is loved and happy.  She is her namesake.